Former England skipper Nasser Hussain reckons that playing both James Anderson and Stuart Broad might be difficult for the Joe Root-led side in the second Ashes Test.

Broad and Anderson were left out of the playing XI for the first Test and this decision raised a few eyebrows among cricket fans. “People will say bring Stuart Broad and James Anderson back in but the bowlers that have been bowling in this Test have now got overs in their legs, so they are the best ones physically to go and play the next one,” Hussain wrote in his column for Sky Sports. “Broad and Anderson haven’t bowled in anger in a match for months now and with their ageing bodies, can you get them both in? I’d definitely go with Anderson for the swing,” he added.

Nathan Lyon, skipper Pat Cummins, David Warner, and Travis Head were the standout performers as Australia defeated England by nine wickets in the first Ashes Test here at the Gabba, Brisbane on Saturday.

“How England are psychologically is key now. Some fans will be thinking ‘here we go again, we are going to lose 5-0’. We have lost 10 of our last 11 games in Australia with the other one being a draw. But we cannot have England thinking here we go again,” said Hussain.

“They are going to Adelaide, a pink-ball Test. It is their best chance to get back into the series so be positive and think we can get back into the series,” he added.Chasing 20, Alex Carey (9) and Marcus Harris (9*) made light work of the chase and the hosts registered victory in just 5.1 overs.

Lyon and Cummins got among the wickets in the second innings as Australia inched closer to victory against England on Day 4. England was bowled out for 297, setting a target of just 20 runs for Australia to win the Gabba Test.

FC Barcelona head coach Xavi believes that his side has a ‘psychological issue’ and further admitted that players in his team lack courage. Xavi who replaced Ronald Koeman at the Camp Nou in November has managed to deliver two wins and a draw in his first three games. However, Barca then suffered a 1-0 loss to Real Betis and exited the Champions League after a 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich. After such heavy losses, the manager was left questioning the collective mental strength within his dressing room. “It is a psychological issue rather than a football one,” the Spaniard told a press conference, as per goal.com.

“They have to believe it and that is my job. We are encouraging them to dare and be brave. At Barcelona it’s not worth playing 6/10 or 7/10. You have to aim for excellence. This is what is missing. Courage, aiming high and not low because that is not what Barcelona do. Being brave and understanding the game, we are not that far from what we want,” Xavi added.

Indian rower Arvind Singh won the gold medal in the men’s lightweight single sculls on Sunday at the Asian Rowing Championships 2021 in Thailand.Arvind Singh outpaced Uzbekistan’s Sobirjon Safaroliyev to win gold with the timing of 7.55.942 at the Royal Thai Navy Rowing Center in Rayong. China’s Weichun Chen took bronze with the timing of 8.10.043. Indian rowers won three more silver medals on the final day of the continental championships. The contingent finished their campaign in Thailand with a tally of six medals in all – two gold and four silver.

“India wins 4 more medals at Asian #Rowing C’ships 2021, taking total to 6 #Tokyo2020 Olympian #ArvindSingh wins in Lightweight Men’s Single Sculls | 07:55.942 #AshishPhugat/ #SukhjinderSingh win in Lightweight Men’s Double Sculls | 07:12.568,” SAI Media tweeted.

Ashish Phugat and Sukhjinder Singh won silver in the men’s lightweight double sculls with a time of 7:12.568. Meanwhile, in the quadruple sculls, the quartet of Bittu Singh, Jakar Khan, Manjeet Kumar and Sukhmeet Singh won the silver with a time of 6.33.083.

In the men’s coxless fours, the team of Jasveer Singh, Punit Kumar, Gurmeet Singh and Charanjeet Singh won the silver with a time of 6:51.661.

On Saturday, India’s Arjun Lal Jat and Ravi won the gold medal in the men’s double sculls as they defeated China’s Qing Li/Lutong Zhang and Uzbekistan’s Davrjon Davronov/Abdullo Mukhammadiev for the top-podium finish.

The third season of Pro Tennis League witnessed, expectedly, top players of India getting highest bidding. Under the auction process, a total of 40 players were divided in 5 groups and bought by 8 teams. These groups included Professional Men’s Players -1 , Professional Women’s Players, Professional Men’s Players -2 , NextGen Tennis Player and 35+ Professional Players.

3rd season of the Pro-Tennis League (PTL) is starting from 21st December 2021 at DLTA Complex, RK Khanna Tennis Academy in New Delhi.

This is almost 2 years after the successful seasons of 2018 and 2019, PTL is coming back.

Men’s Pro 1 category player Ramkumar Ramanathan was bagged for the highest auction price that was Rs.43,50,000. Saketh Myneni was the second player who was sold at Rs, 41,50,000 in the Men’s Pro 1 category.

Each team will have 4 men’s category while a single women’s category. All the action will begin from 21st December 2021 at DLTA, R.K. Khanna Stadium.

There were speculations that India would not travel to South Africa amid the Omicron scare but the BCCI has put an end to all the rumours and gave a green signal to the Indian tour of South Africa. India Today understands that the Indian team, after assembling in Mumbai on Sunday, will leave for South Africa on a charter flight on December 16.

After completing a series win over New Zealand in the Tests, India cricketers are on a well-deserved break. However, the players and support staff will be back in another bio-bubble in Mumbai.

The Indian team which lands in South Africa will remain inside a bio-bubble until the Test series ends, while the members of the ODI series will have to spend an additional eight days inside a restricted environment.

BCCI had recently named an 18-member squad for the three-Test matches, starting with the Boxing Day encounter in Centurion, whereas the ODI squad is likely to be named in the next couple of days.

The first world championship Test will start at SuperSport Park in Centurion on December 26.

The second Test will be played at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg from January 3-7 with the final Test scheduled for Newlands in Cape Town from January 11-15.

The Test series will be followed by three one-day internationals, the first two in Paarl on January 19 and 21 and the third at Newlands on January 23.

The one-day matches will be part of the International Cricket Council’s World Cup Super League.

With South Africa hit by travel restrictions following the discovery of the fast-spreading Omicron variant of coronavirus, CSA announced last week the tour will be played under strict bio-secure conditions.

Former Indian footballer I.M. Vijayan feels players need to be competitive to further help in the growth of women’s football in India.

The Senior Women’s National Football Championship 2021-22 came to an end on Thursday when Manipur clinched their 21st title at the EMS Stadium, in Kozhikode, defeating Railways 2-1 on penalties. IM Vijayan, who was in the city to watch Manipur’s clash against Railways, was elated that the championship was being conducted despite the pandemic.

“The way AIFF and Kerala Government has organized the championship is commendable despite the COVID situation. It shows how each and everyone is working towards the growth of Indian Football,” AIFF quoted IM Vijayan as saying.“This is the first time that the Kerala Government is hosting the national championships in four venues with the support of AIFF. I am so happy to see that 32 teams participated with so many young talents. I have come here for the first time to watch the girls play and I really enjoyed the brand of football they showed,” he mentioned.

The Blue Tigers legend also mentioned about the growth of women’s football in India and said, “In our times, scoring was very easy for the teams but now the competition has become tougher which is needed for the growth of women’s football in India”.

When asked about the performance of the senior national women’s team in the recent exposure tours, he said, “The way India played against Brazil was impressive.